The information regarding the use of the Metric System was not properly
managed between NASA and Lockheed Martin, the company that helped build,
develop and operate the Mars Orbiter for NASA. Lockheed Martin probably
used the English system to develop the Mars Orbiter project, but when
Lockheed Martin transferred the project information was transferred over, it should have been NASA should have
who noticed the difference in the measurement units by applying some sort of
checklist to the data before accepting it.
I believe that the
scientific community should standardize the a measurement systems accepted
for academic purposes, and apply this standard as early as in starting from college. In the mid-to-long term,
this standardization should impact not only academic based academia, but also
business-related projects – which This could can possibly change the way
governments and companies, all over the world, deal with measurement
systems.
Wow! Very well done, Armando! Your writing has improved exponentially! Great job! Also, very interesting notebook entry. Keep up the great work :)
The Importance of a Universal Standard in of Measurements
The following discussion was is based in on the analysis of an article regarding a NASA's mission failure in 1999 (http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/30/mars.metric.02/)The loss of the Mars Orbiter loss brings up the discussion regarding the importance of to question whether or not we should have a universal standard in of measurements. Sophisticated science, as stated by Lorelle Young, president of the U.S. Metric Association, should not use two measurement systems. Space missions, for example, are too complex to be managed. Every detail counts, and little mistakes can result in big-time disasters. Converting measurement units between the project design and the project execution stages can lead to potential failures, as well as, at minimum, substantially increase the project’s complexity.
I believe that the loss of NASA’s Mars Climate Orbiter in 1999 was caused by the lack of project management, though I acknowledge the metric mishap that prevented navigation information from transferring between the orbiter and the flight team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. According to Tom Gavin, the administrator of the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the conversion of measurement units should not have caused the navigation mishap. Tom Gavin also said explains that, several years before the Mars Orbiter loss, NASA established the metric system for all units of measurement. However, he deduces that "[t]his is [only] an end-to-end process problem.", he stated. An explanation, of one sentence, should follow your direct quotation. Paragraphs should never end with a quotation. The process of adding quotations is as follows: introduction to the quotation (However, he deduces that...) + quotation + explanation of quotation.
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